Hi everyone can you please tell me what your panic/ anxiety attacks feel like in detail???

[Rs33]

HI everyone I was wondering if you could go it to detail about what your panic/anxiety attacks feel like.... as much detail as possible I know this sounds crazy but I want to know what your body goes through..Talking about this problem helps me so much knowing I am not alone!
I will tell you mine:
I could be doing anything....from relaxing to playing with my daughter and then I get this weird sensation in my head and then my  body feels like hot, like hot water is being poured through my veins from my head to my feet and at the same time that happends I feel as if I am going to pass out I feel sick and my vision starts goin in and then I panic and thats when My heart starts to race and I get sweaty shakey and tingly my feet my legs my hands and even sometimes my face..... I get weird feelin sensations in my head and then I feel crazy all day and anxious all day waiting for another one to happen it feels as if it is non stop!!! I went to the doc and said it is more than likely anxiety! ( I feel on avergae like I am going to pass out 5-8 x a day) I am on  a heart monitor for a month just in case. I take one xanax in the morning and it helps with the shakey nervous anxious feeling but I still get the pass out feeling :( they don't go away! I get weird chest pain as well and I also feel as if my whol body is ticklish for a few seconds weird feeling....I think that I have something wrong with me and it consumes my thoughts...I hate this feeling and I would love for it to go away! My xanax is the lowest does possible and I sometimes take a half later in the day if I start to feel bad again but thats only happened twice. Also my head gets kinda cold numb feeling in it for a few second and I get irregular heart beats! Just so you know these just started a week ago and also my husband has been deployed over seas he is suppose to come home in 9 days but not sure they might extend it :( for another 2 weeks I know some peopl think that is nothing but not when you feel like me everyday! I also have a 9 month old daughtr and I can't feel like this I ned to take care of her! I have ended up in the ER twice for this and I wish I could make it stop...I try to distract myself but if you knew my daughter and my husband I swear there twins haha she looks just like him so everytime I look at her its just a reminder anywayts please share your feeling or stories or however you feel when one comes on also at the end maybe share how you hlp yourself gt rid of ot or how you stop it or w/e.
Thank you very much god bless to all of you and I will pray for the whole forum...this is such a horribl thing to go through!

[Julie359]

I was on Paxil for 14yrs until March of last yr i weened off and then fell ill again in June, tried to go back on the Paxil but had a bad reaction, doc tried me on 4 other ssri's and a snri but they all made me feel much worse and nearly put me in a wheelchair.  They were basically attacking my nervous system.  So now i am on Propranalol which helps a lot with my GAD, but not the phobias.

I'm happy that your feeling much better with the med's and therapy.... so are you living a 'normal' life now?  

[tretre115]

Oh my god what you described was exactly my first panic attack!! I was laying in bed and i felt this burning sensation all through my body I walked through my whole entire house back and forth back and forth because when i laid back down i thought I was going to pass out finally I called 911 the minute they got there I calmed right down. Then for about 2 months after that I would panic worrying about the next time I was going to have one.Finally i went to a psychiatrist and a therapist. The psychiatrist put me on Celexa that worked for me and the therapy helped too. I hope you feel better any questions just let me know!!! Good Luck,
Teresa

[Julie359]

Hiya, yeah it is such a bad thing to go through, it robs u of peace and inner wellbeing and makes you feel you have some of the most terrible diseases going, i know how you feel.  This is what happens to me when i have a panic attack:

Sometimes its starts with my chest tightening and i find i have trouble breathing, i start to take gasping breaths and hyperventilate.  At the same time i have overwhleming pangs of panic shoot out from my chest into my arms, legs, throat etc which makes me feel extremely weak, sometimes to the point i can not walk and feel like i'm going to collaspe, my legs become so heavy they feel like lead weights.  My vision fades and my head becomes very lightheaded and everything becomes muffled, i become dizzy, sweaty, pale and feel sick. My heart seems to go into a shock type state where it feels like it's under too much pressure and can't cope, i feel pain, immense pressure and panic within my heart and i have severe palputations, which actually causes me to feel like i will die then and there, it actually feels like my heart is going to give up. I will shake like a leaf in the wind, my hands uncontrollably and my neck and head shakes along with everyother bodily limb.

Recently i have also developed a burning type sensation in the souls of my feet and in my left hand as well, not only when i have a severe attack but it lingers around after the attack sometimes for hours or days, which is unpleasant.  It feels like someone is sticking a thousand red hot needles into my skin and i get a lot of aching. My mouth will go deathly dry, and i always feel like i will pee myself.  Also after the attack my digestion is messed up for a couple of days, i will suffer from an upset stomach and food doesnt sit right, i get indigestion. and proberly a ton other symptoms as well that i just can't remember right now.  

So what do i do to help myself in an attack, well, as a result of the severity of the attacks i have developed agoraphobia and now have a very limited comfort zone that i travel within.  Even still i will avoid large crowds within this zone.  I live opposite a football ground and if it is a match day i will not choose to go out side due to thousands of people going to and fro.... so this is the consequnce of having the panic attacks i am now somewhat a prisioner within my home and mind.  Although when i do go out i pack up my bag with 1 bottle water for dry mouth to sip on, 1 bottle of pure orange juice for instant added energy, diaizpam 2mg for emergencies, rescue remedy bottle for calming relief and chocolate bars for energy.  I always make sure i have cab fare money on me so if i feel stuck in a situation i can call a cab to get me home and i have a long list of cabs in the area so if one cab firm don't have any i can call another, although sometimes when i have been having a severe attack i will call and order three or four cabs, so whoever gets there frist i can jump in and go quickly....it is rather difficult though is they all turn up at the same time...lol

I do breathing exercises, breath in through the nose and out through the mouth to help calm me down which does work and i repeat affirmations in my mind like 'peace, love, safe or i am safe, secure and am in no danger, i am at peace.  Things like this.  I also made up a little book which i carry in my bag of prayers, affiramtions, calming verses, little pic's my children drew me to remind me to be strong and relaxation techniques to help get me through the crisis.  I find i prefer not to travel with people cause i can tun around and leave the situation at a moments notice without having to explain myself or think of them or having to worry that they will see me in this panicky state and start to panic themselves.  I find it makes me far worse if they are constantly asking me if im ok and assessing me for signs of a panic attack coming on, of course it brings one on.

I am under the psychiatrist and have a care plan organizer, who has now reffered me over to another Cognitive Behavioural Therapist who will shortly start working with me on all my issues, which i am mostly looking forward to.  I also go to a day centre for people with mental issues like myself so i am not cooped up in the house and i get to be around others so i dont feel so isloated.  

You can pm me any time if you need a chat, as i know first hand how you are feeling... there have been times i have just wanted to give up and say no more pain and suffering but having my 3 girls have stopped me from doing that..... all the best now Julie